A full day of no cost events is scheduled for the San Diego Writers, Ink’s (SDWI) fundraiser at the Barnes & Noble’s Point Loma Bookstar location on Saturday, March 7. Starting at 11 a.m. hear about the Junipero Serra controversy by author Jim Downs of the recently published The Real World of Mission San Luis Rey. About the book

At noon, participate in a writing prompt session with SDWI’s Brown Bag facilitator Janene Roberts. Brown Bag (at SDWI every Tuesday at noon) is a time for writing practice where participants are invited to write to a given prompt; writing free from editing and critique. No experience necessary. About Janene

At one, listen to a reading from T. Greenwood’s new book The Forever Bridge. Greenwood is the author of eight novels. She has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and, most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council. Her novel TWO RIVERS was named Best General Fiction Book at the San Diego Book Awards in 2009, and her novel GRACE won the same award in 2012. Five of her novels have been BookSense76/IndieBound picks. Her eighth novel, BODIES OF WATER, was released last fall. She teaches creative writing for San Diego Writer’s, Ink. About T. Greenwood

Following the Forever Bridge reading at 2 p.m., get a peek into how to pitch your book idea with Jennifer Silva Redmond. As Redmond states, “’What’s your book about?”’ We get asked that question all the time, but most of us spend very little time figuring out how to effectively answer it. Pitching your book is key to selling it—whether you are an author-entrepreneur-publisher or are pitching your book to agents and editors.” Jennifer is a long-time acquisitions editor and popular “Pitch Witch”. She will listen to one-minute book pitches and work her “magic” on them. About Redmond

Later that afternoon at 3 p.m. and then again at 5 p.m. participate in more writing practice exercises with Writers by the Beach host Louise Julig at 3 p.m. Writers by the Beach regularly meets at the Encinitas Library Thursdays at 11 a.m. About Louise

Judy Reeves, founder of Brown Bag and Host of Thursday Writers (at Lestats West every Thursday at 5 p.m.) will host a writing prompt session at 5 p.m. Thursday Writers drop in for lively and fast-paced writing practice sessions where they can expect evocative prompts to get their pen moving. There is focused time for writing in a safe and friendly community of like-minded writers. About Judy

The daylong event will end with live three-minute stories from DimeStories’ writers. Dime Stories are three-minute stories (prose, not poetry) read by the author. They’re funny. They’re heart-rending. Fictional or factual, they’re always true. Readings will go from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. that evening. DimeStories meets every 2nd Friday at SDWI. About DimeStories

Participants attending the event are encouraged to support the group by buying books that day at the store. Purchases that day in-store or online, and online through Wednesday, March 11, will earn San Diego Writers, Ink a 10-15% cash reward. Use code 11567120 for the percentage to be applied to SDWI. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Bookstar is located at 3150 Rosecrans Place, Point Loma. For more information and details (Some restrictions apply) or to print out a voucher for purchases go to http://www.sandiegowriters.org/0307-barnes-and-noble-day-for-sdwi/.

Here’s an opportunity to be a part of the La Mesa Christmas in the Village event in La Mesa, California. Did you know that there are only a few events left in San Diego that use Christmas in their name?

The La Mesa Christmas in the Village celebrates Christmas by turning La Mesa Boulevard into a Victorian-era village with lots of pretty lights and shows throughout the evening as well as a parade that starts at 5 p.m. each night of the event.

You or your business can be a part of the celebration by becoming a sponsor. Ad exposure and booth space come with each of the sponsor levels included here, but we’re open to any level of giving you’d like. It’s a great way to be a part of a local community effort that is being promoted throughout the San Diego market. Please make out checks to LMVMA and send your sponsorship to: Attn: Janene c/o La Mesa Merchant’s Association, 8030 La Mesa Boulevard, PMB#176, La Mesa, CA 91942. Thank you.

Are you someone that has always wanted to write a novel but has never taken the time, or you started one and never picked it back up again? Maybe you’re charged with writing your company’s newsletter but you haven’t been formally trained in prose. There are a few opportunities coming up that might be of interest to you. Every other week I host Tuesday Brown Bag at the San Diego Writers, Ink from noon to 1 p.m.. The sessions are geared to get your writing hand moving and creating content with a prompt. Some of the Brown Baggers have gone on to become New York Times Bestselling authors. Go here for more information. Brown Bag

If you already have some writing done and want feedback, I will be hosting a once-a-month Sunday Evening Read & Critique. It starts the last Sunday of this month, September 28. We’ll be eating and critiquing simultaneously. It should be fun. Go here for more information. Sunday Critique

Or, if you just want to check out all that San Diego Writers, Ink has to offer, you can attend one session or an entire weekend of writing and related workshops with a finale reading from Barbarella Fokos’ new book Diary of a Diva, this weekend September 12-14. And, I’m teaching a class on low cost ways to promote your creative projects Fall For Writing

Do you have a wine or food related event you’d like to get more exposure for? Add this link to your marketing calendar submission list. Our wine tasting website has been upgraded to allow for event submissions for you at no cost. Submit an Event

Your business can be a part of the La Mesa Christmas in the Village event December 12 and 13, 2014. Booths start at $200 for both evenings, sponsorship packages are also available, or ask how you can be a part of the Christmas Parade. Efforts are underway to televise the parade this year. Contact Janene@popcornpressandmedia.com for more information.

According to Nielsen ratings, “Hispanics have the highest propensity to listen to the radio of any ethnic group.” The research firm’s findings reported “94.2 percent of all Hispanics (aged 12+) listen to the radio during the week.” Nielsen found the most significant growth in Hispanic radio listening was during the morning drive time (6-10 a.m). It would appear that with the growth of so many vehicles to consume media that radio listenership would be on the decrease, but surprisingly Nielsen found that “Radio consumption across the U.S. continues to grow, as nearly 92 percent of Americans 12 or older are tuning in each week. That’s 244.4 million of us, a record high.”

The top 5 Markets in the U.S. for Hispanic TV Viewing according to Nielsen are the following.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts lately are suggesting looking at Google Trends to see what people are searching for and then writing a blog post on that same theme. So how can your target audience relate to some of these trends? Recently, the top trends on Google Trends were.

1. Joan Rivers

2. NFL

3. Dancing with the Stars

4. Gustavo Cerati

5. Federer

6. Beyonce

7. Josh Gordon

8. Russell Wilson

9. Johnathan Bennett

10. Andy Murray

You can look at the trends for a longer period than just a few days to see if they’re consistent and not just a one time fluke. Dancing with the Stars, for example, has been a highly rated prime TV show for a long time. In March 2014 the ABC show garnered 15.4 million viewers nationally and was ranked #2 after CBS’s NCIS. Maybe your business can’t afford to air a national ad on Dancing with the Stars, but you can find other ways to be associated with the show. There are pre-roll ads that can be placed locally in front of the show as viewers watch online, or you can write a blog post showing how one of the dancers used your product on their hair while on the show. Get creative. You just might find a way to have a connection with these top trends while potentially increasing traffic to your site.

More classes have been added to the line up at the San Diego Writers, Ink Fall For Writing Conference this month. To wrap up the event on Sunday evening, Barbarella Fokos, new author of the book Diary of a Diva will talk about the writing process and read from her book.

The Fall For Writing conference will hold sessions all weekend from September 12 to 14, 2014. Classes and workshops run the gamut from fiction, memoir and poetry writing, to collage and marketing classes.

Barbarella Fokos was the executive producer and host of Art Pulse TV (which aired on NBC San Diego, COZI TV, and is now re-airing twice a day on County TV in San Diego). The show was all about taking viewers behind the scenes of everything art in San Diego County and Baja. She won a regional Emmy award for producing the show.

She also used to do regular television segments, such as “Stepping Out With Barbarella” on NBC San Diego News in the Morning, and the weekly 5 Questions with Barbarella that aired on NBC’s California Nonstop channel. She writes for the San Diego Reader, from lengthy news features to fluffy food reviews. Her column, “Diary of a Diva,” has appeared in the Reader every week since 2004. Now these are the basis for a new book.

For a fraction of what it would cost to attend a class or two, the San Diego Writers, Ink (SDWI) is offering a full weekend of classes, workshops, and parties at the third annual Fall For Writing Conference. The pre-registration cost is $120 for members or $140 for non-members for up to 10 sessions. At the door it’s $5 more for each or $25 a class. Membership is $35 a year. SDWI is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.

For more information about this and other San Diego Writers, Ink’s events go to: sandiegowriters.org

Writers interested in getting their work published have until July 31 to submit their poetry, prose, or flash fiction for publication submission in the San Diego Writers, Ink 8th Anthology. Eligibility is available to residents of San Diego. Members ($35 a year) can submit up to three pieces at no cost. The non-member fee is just $5 per entry.

An Anthology is a compilation of accepted works by authors that have been published before, and others who have never been published. Accepted pieces are featured in a printed publication.

reg e. gaines, a Tony-nominated writer and Bessie Award winner, is one of the editors of the 8th Anthology and is available for media appearances to talk about the Anthology process. reg e had a brush with fame in New York City with the slam poetry movement. He will be editing the poetry submissions for the Writers, Ink Anthology.

Dean Nelson, the prose editor, is the founder and director of the journalism program at PLNU (Point Loma Nazarene University) who writes occasionally for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Christianity Today, Sojourners and other national publications and has co-written 11 books.

For more information about this and other San Diego Writers, Ink’s events go to: sandiegowriters.org